A Little Friday Finish

It's been awhile since I have written a post. I have been "lurking" at all your blogs, but nothing has been finished!

I joined the UFO Challenge at APQ last January and was doing pretty well in getting each month's project complete. Then I hit a wall. October's challenge was to finally do something with a jelly roll quilt that I had done at a retreat several years back, 2012 to be exact.  I did not like it when the top was complete, so I put it away until I decided what to do!

I still don't know what to do with it and so October's challenge did not get done.  In this photo, I don't hate it, but in person....I do!

November's challenge was to finish another retreat project. This one was a "teaching project". The facility that our group uses has a stipulation that there must be a teaching element in our agenda. Three of our members planned this project. 

They supplied the 12 solid scraps, each of us brought background and batting. It is paper pieced and the teaching was a different technique using freezer paper. I'm sure most of you know this method. It is easy and the 12x12 project was done pretty quickly. It went home with me and there it sat.  Well , I dug it out of the bin where it had been living and set about to finish it. Wall hanging? Pillow? or something else?  

I settled on small wall hanging. Here is the finished little hanging. 

The multi-colored dotted fabric was just some scraps from my stash. I finished it using a technique I learned doing some small stitchery wall hangings from Sweet Stitches a few years ago. The colored strips that look like binding are just added like 1" borders. Then the batting is cut a little less than the new dimensions. The backing is added in two pieces so that there is a seam in the center. Leave an opening of about 3 inches in the middle of the seam for turning. It is then sewed together using the birthing method. Turn through the opening, poke our the corners, press well. Hand sew the opening closed. Quilt as desired. I have this hanger, the dowel need Mr. Busy's attention, it's a bit long! If I wasn't afraid of his scroll saw, I'd fix it myself!

So this is my little finish. Hopefully there will be more in the future.  I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Busy Hands Quilts. 

Finish it up Friday - NADA!

FINISH IT UP FRIDAY  at  Crazy Mom Quilts


****A request for HELP at the bottom of this post. ****

This week has not been as productive as some in the past. I have a new challenge looming and it is not finished, nor will it be for some time. I will share it, if and when, I get it done.

This is just a peek. Hexies and an antique churn dash block.










Nothing was finished this week. I am sewing the binding on my crumb quilt. So hopefully by next Friday that will be done.

I am loving the lime green!


I have a retreat coming up the first weekend in May, so I have been busy cutting projects.  Half square triangle that are 2 inches will finish at 1 1/2,  Way outside my comfort zone!!

 I like to have most all of the cutting done beforehand if possible. I don't cut well with others!  :)   I love going to this particular retreat both for the camaraderie and for the setting.

But because it is a remote hunting lodge, we bring our own bedding, towels, and food in addition to machines, fabric, notions, tools, ironing boards, cutting mats and all. I am almost too old to tote all that stuff. So I have promised myself to actually "retreat" and take some "me" time too. Walk in the beautiful surroundings, read a book, do some hand stitching, maybe even take a nap. It is hard to sit at my machine for 8-10 hours a day. I just cannot manage it. I'll let you know how it goes this time.



Stay Busy and Stay Happy

PS:  Last week on Finish It Up Friday, I was visiting all the linked up blogs. There was one that had a link to the procedure and diagram of how to sure your seams in the binding were in a precise spot. For color matching. Also to make sure the seams did not land at the corners. I have tried to find it again. If anyone, can tell me where to look for this diagram, I would appreciate it. There was a drawing, and it had to do with measuring the sides of the quilt so that from point A to point B around the corner was the length of the binding strip between joining seams. Thanks.

March Finishes : Church Lady Apron and Bib Apron

2017 is turning out to be a pretty good year for finishes for me.  I have 3 different challenge lists and that is keeping me focused.

The Sewing Center/Fabric City UFO Challenge has a list of themes for each month. Then I have to chose which item on my L-O-N-G list of UFO's fits the theme and get it finished in the month. Then I post a picture to the proper album on their Facebook page and they draw winners of coupons or fabric every month. That is good motivation for some, I just need the "peer pressure" to get busy!. The link above with direct you to their page on Facebook, the UFO Challenge is a closed group, so you are unable to see all the projects.

The theme for March is "Spring". I am not a flowery, spring color kind of girl. I lean toward fall colors, so that was a hard one for me. One of my UFOs was to make a Church Lady apron. The pattern is by Mary Mulari, a fequent contributor on Sewing with Nancy on PBS,  Then I found an apron pre printed panel that I had cut out, ready to sew. IDEA!  Back the bib apron panel with springy fabric and give to granddaughter #1 for Easter. Make the Church Lady Apron for me, to wear while cooking Easter dinner!  I had some cute bottle cap fabric and a coordinating cross hatch print. Done!

They are reversible to should be sturdy enough and useful. 

The All People Quilt ( American Patchwork and Quilting) 2017 UFO Challenge goes like this. I filled out a chart, posted on their web site. Then at the beginning of each month, a number is posted on the challenge groups Facebook page. At the end of the month, I record the progress made on the ufo. It doesn't have to be finished. But can be, of course. #12 was drawn for March. Number 12 on my list was to finish a play/activity quilt for our first Great Granddaughter, Bella. The quilt stays at our house, so she has a safe place on the floor. I finished that too. 

   There is a strip added near the top, with taggies and loops to attach toys. The long looking piece is a striped ribbon I couldn't throw away. I added an empty plastic thread spool.  She loved it. Near the bottom is a printed panel section left over from her brother's Winnie the Pooh quilt. I made small square fabric pillows and attached them to several pictures on the panel for a Peek-a-boo effect.

Last but not least I made a teething ring with bunny ears attached. It is fabric and toweling. Gives a great Handle to hold on to and catch the drool!

 I am pleased to have these 3 UFO's off my list. 

My other challenge is a local group I belong to. We do a project every 60 days. I posted about the first project, dice roll #5 .HERE.  

I am posting these finishes to Crazy Mom Quilts'  Finish It Up Friday!   This post was written and published on the 12th, too late for Friday the 10th. So I am linking it today, the 17th. 

PS:  I finished a book too!  Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb. 

Another travel pillow finished + not quite finished but only step away!

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts. 

Last Friday I showed the little pink pillow I made for our great granddaughter. I couldn't give it to her and leave her big brother out, so I quickly sewed up this travel pillow from some scraps. Jojo loves airplanes and this was leftover fabric from a quilt I made for his "Pa", my DH.  This one has a bigger, deeper pocket and a velcro tab closure. It will hold his iPad and keep it from harm, I hope!. My plan was to finally cut up the rest of the scraps into 2.5 " strips, but cutting up those airplanes was hard. Maybe I can find another project for them. 

I also finished this quilt top. It was a kit I purchased some years ago. It was languishing in the UFO bin.  It still needs to go to the longarm quilter, but the binding is ready for when it returns.  As soon as the label is attached, all these scraps will be cut and put in the proper colored basket.

This month I hope to finish a couple of aprons for my granddaughter and an activity quilt for the little one. So many projects and now I learn there is to be another great granddaughter before the summer is over, so there is yet another quilt to be made.  Looking forward to that one too. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

February Finishes - Book and Sewing Projects.

I only finished reading The Guilty by David Baldacci.

You can check out my review  here.

 I am still wading through the Karen Kingsbury collection on my Kindle.

That may be why it is taking me so long. That and the fact that I have been  nursing a sick Mr. Busy and I have been in my sewing room a great deal.

I have completed these, this month.

This was still in kit stage on Feb 1st. It still has to be quilted. I send mine to a longarmer. That requires a bit of saving, so it will wait for a complete finish for a bit. This was my February challenge for American Patchwork and Quilting's 2017 UFO Challenge.

And I did these little pillows for my 2 great grandchildren.

 This little pillow matches the quilt I made for Bella before she was born. I finally got around to making a label with her birth statistics and a little pillow I hope her mama will use when she is nursing. It has a handle for ease of caring to a rocking chair and a shallow pocket for breast shields or maybe mama's cell phone.

I couldn't let her big brother be forgotten, so I gathered some scraps from Mr Busy's airplane quilt and made Jojo a pillow too. His has a deeper pocket to hold a book, or more likely his iPad. A velcro strap will secure the tablet in the pocket when he carries it to and from "Gwamma and Pa's" house. He is a big fan of the movie "Planes" and know that Pa has a model of the Corsair F4U that is  on this bag...:Skipper" in the movie. 

I sent this one to our oldest great grandson for Valentine's Day. He lives in Arizona, he will be 7 in July. His grandpa, our son, is a Bronco fan. I got a "thumbs up" thank you from his mom. 

And one last finish: 

It's a Mondo Bag. Over 200,  2 1/2 inch squares sewed to an interfacing. It has batting too and is large and quite heavy. I hope I remember not to load it too heavy or I won't be able to lift it.  I love the colors though. 

That is it for February. Now on to March and it's challenges. I will be reading two books written in verse. 

 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

and Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.  I am looking forward to this "new to me" format. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

A Finish or Three

      I've been busy in my sewing room lately. I haven't finished cutting the fabric to make the extra block for En Provence. If you remember, I only made half the suggested number of pieces and that was enough to make 8 blocks. But after looking at the layout, I knew I wanted a 3X3 setting or nine blocks. So I sort of stalled out. I'll get back to it.

I did finish the January challenge for the American Patchwork & Quilting  2017 UFO Challenge. I had hoped to make enough crumb blocks to make a top with sashing and cornerstones. I made that happen. And the backing is done too. As soon as my LA quilter returns from her vacation, I get it to her to be quilted/

This was so fun, I want to do another one. But now I have been inspired by Amanda Jean's Crazy Rails Quilt. I may have to do that one instead.  I am linking this post to Finish It Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.


I also finished the challenge project for my Local Quilt Group. It was to finish a Mondo bag. A kit I received in a gift exchange at a retreat in May 2016 and it is DONE!  It went pretty well, but if I do it again, I will not use the same kind of fusible fleece in the lining. It is heavy even empty and if I fill it like I usually do, it will be very heavy.

So now I am on to work on the February project for APQ UFO challenge, #8 on my list. It was a kit for a Magnolia Quilt by Blank Quilting.

I have the main pieces cut and will start construction hopefully tomorrow. 

I also finished reading The Guilty by David Baldacci 

and liked it a lot. It is number 4 in the Will Robie series and it did not disappoint me. I have come to expect a great story with suspense and a twist at the end from Baldacci and he delivered yet again.

Until next time,

Stay Busy and Stay Happy